It’s time to drop the baggage around the word “influencer.”

If you’re a maw-and-paw restaurant, and a local foodie with 300 followers agrees to rave about how bangin’ your pot pie is? Mazel tov! You’re doing influencer marketing.

“‘Influencer’ is just a general category for anyone that is able to get an audience to take an action,” says creator economy expert Lindsey Gamble.

And whether that action is starting your first creator campaign or signing a viral TikToker with 2 million followers, today’s master is gonna influence the crap outta you. In a good way.

Lindsey Gamble

Creator economy consultant, Creator of the Lindsey Gamble newsletter

• Fun fact: Growing up, Lindsey’s dream was to play in the NFL. After playing Division 1 for Bryant University, he got a chance to work out with his favorite players at pro day.
• Claim to fame: Worked as a brand ambassador and lifestyle creator for L.L. Bean, Every Man Jack, and Allagash Brewing. His self-titled newsletter was named one of the best marketing newsletters by Buffer.

Lesson 1: Everyone is a creator.

“In today’s day and age, everyone is a creator. Even if you don’t call yourself that,” says Lindsey Gamble.

Whenever you’re makin’ a Bluesky post or TikTok short on something you care about, you’re creating content. And when that content finds someone else who cares, it creates a community.

And, even if that group is small or extremely niche, the parasocial relationship between creator and community cultivates a trust that can quickly turn audience members into customers.

Case in point, when I worked for a CPAP vendor, we saw double-digit returns working with a sleep apnea influencer. Talk about hyperspecific, right?

“It doesn’t always have to be the person with the biggest followership. You just want to work with people that believe in your brand.”

And that’s the beauty of this lesson: If everyone is a creator, that means there’s a creator for every industry. Even the really boring or weird ones.

Lesson 2: There’s power in someone else’s voice.

Influencer marketing works for the same reason word-of-mouth is so effective.

“It’s all about social proof. What people say about you is more important than what you say about yourself as a brand. Any voice besides yourself is going to be powerful.”

But, like word-of-mouth, influencer marketing only works when it feels — you guessed it — authentic.

“You wouldn’t hire a plumber and then tell them what to do, right? You might tell them where the bathroom is, but they fix the problem because they have the skills and expertise.”

In other words, don’t treat the creator like what Gamble calls a “digital billboard,” asking them to simply parrot your existing message.

To plan a truly effective creator campaign, he advises starting with your pain points. For example, is there an audience you’re failing to connect with? Is your social presence on a certain platform lacking? Consider how that need could be addressed from the outside, then approach a content creator to create something entirely new.

“You work with that creator because they have a value that you don’t have as a brand or as an individual. Sometimes it’s the audience, right? More times than not, it’s their voice.”

Lesson 3: Work your way up.

Chances are good that you don’t have the budget to nab MrBeast for your next campaign. That doesn’t mean you can’t benefit from creator marketing.

“You can start small and build up,” Gamble says. “I always recommend running a couple of campaigns that are brand awareness [at first].”

After contracting with a creator, your first step should be to create a brief that outlines both your goals and your success metrics. After the content is made, analyze how it aligns with the brief.

“Do that two or three times [to make] benchmarks, and then figure out what didn’t work and what you can build on top of.”

The idea is to build a roadmap toward working with a broader portfolio of creators that address a variety of business needs.

“You might have this idea of the type of creator you want to work with, but a better start is tapping into different creators that help you get to different audiences.”

Lingering Questions

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION

“What’s one marketing habit or best practice you think we should collectively leave behind, and what would you replace it with?” — Al Iverson, Industry research and community engagement lead, Valimail; deliverability consultant and publisher, Spam Resource

THIS WEEK’S ANSWER

Gamble says: “Relying solely on last-click attribution for measuring the success of influencer marketing is a mistake.

“Sure, tracking links and promo codes show direct sales, but creators play a much bigger role in awareness, brand building, consideration, traffic, and more — all of which leads to purchases down the line, even if the link or code isn’t used.

“We need to measure the impact of creators more creatively and look at the full picture, including content performance, website traffic, brand follower growth, search lift, share of voice, brand and sales lift studies, post-campaign surveys, and other methods to capture the true impact of influencer campaigns, otherwise you’re likely missing out on the full story.”

NEXT WEEK’S QUESTION

Gamble asks: What’s a marketing strategy or trend that you think is widely overlooked but has high potential for impact right now?